Virgil Thomson – A Gallery of Portraits for Piano and Other Piano Works
Craig Rutenberg
Everbest Music 1003 (virgilthomson.org)
Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) is chiefly remembered for his operas Four Saints in Three Acts and The Mother of Us All, both set to librettos by Gertrude Stein, and the orchestral suites he derived from his film scores – the one he arranged from Louisiana Story won the Pulitzer Prize in 1949. Writers about music also continue to cite Thomson’s acerbic reviews from his tenure as music critic of New York’s Herald Tribune (1940-1954).
This two-CD set contains 81 piano miniatures, most under two minutes, including 70 of the approximately 160 Portraits Thomson composed portraying friends and acquaintances, each present during the music’s creation. There are sentimental melodies, often hinting at familiar hymns and folk tunes, military fanfares and marches, merry-go-round music and playful dances, many spiced with puckish “wrong notes.”
I recognized only seven names among those depicted: composers Paul Bowles (a quirky, mildly-dissonant waltz), Lou Harrison (melodically and rhythmically ambiguous) and Aaron Copland (emphatically folksy); Pablo Picasso (Prokofiev-like percussiveness) and Picasso’s mistress Dora Maar (restlessly meandering); actor-producer John Houseman (meditative) and this recording’s pianist, Craig Rutenberg (gently rocking). Rutenberg, a good friend of Thomson, has enjoyed a distinguished career as teacher, vocal coach and accompanist for such stars as Diana Damrau, Frederica von Stade and Ben Heppner.
Five selections from Thomson’s ballet Filling Station evoke vigorous work-songs, while the four-piece Suite from the film The Plow that Broke the Plains features Cowboy Songs and Blues, adding to this collection’s significance.
